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Dithridge was president of this company, T. A. Wright, secretary; L. L. Hackett, superintendent at Tionesta, and Edward Davison, at Pittsburgh. This steam saw-mill was erected on Lamentation creek.... The Crawford saw-mill, erected in 1884, on the Tionesta, near Henry's mills, was destroyed in March, 1887.

In 1858, when Percival & Leavens entered business at Newtown, for Stowe & Co., they found the old mill changed into a gang-mill; DeWoody was putting in logs at the old school-house, and a few one-horse train cars were running.

The Salmon creek mill was erected in 1879-80; a road up the Branch opened, and a dam constructed across Salmon creek. At the time of building it was the intention of the owners to manufacture spade, shovel, broom and fork handles here. A blacksmith shop, a large boarding house and seven dwellings were erected at this time, thus creating a little village in the wilderness, four miles up Salmon creek from its confluence with the Tionesta.

A sad accident occurred at Newtown in 1879. A little boy only sixteen months old, son of Mr. Rodolph, strayed from his mother's sight while she was attending her household duties. The mother missed her child in a very few minutes, and went in search of it. It is supposed that the little fellow toddled to the creek, only some thirty feet from the house, fell in and was swept away by the current. Mrs. Rodolph ran down the creek and up again, looking for her lost one with all a mother's anguish, but too late.

The post-office at the mouth of Ross run was established in 1887, and named Setley, with Daniel Harrington, postmaster.

Kellettville is the name given to the tanning extract village of W. W. Kellett & Co., three miles south west of Panther Rock. In November, 1884, the works were destroyed by fire. They had been shut down the morning of the fire, and Supt. Andrews was absent looking after repairs on machinery. The fire is supposed to have caught from the arch, and did not confine itself to the building proper, but licked up the out-buildings, including a large stock of bark. The total loss was $30,000, of which insurance for $15,000 was carried. Without delay temporary buildings were erected, and within a short time this industry was revived.

Whig Hill is the name given to an old settlement on the route from Tionesta to Beaver valley, in Kingsley township. George Beck, one of the pioneers of the district, settled there about thirty-seven years ago, and in the neighborhood Eli Berlin and other early settlers located. The place has not been neglected by the pen of Daniel Harrington, for in 1880 he incorporated in his reminiscences the following story: "About one mile north of Whig Hill school-house, on the cross roads leading from Tionesta to Beaver valley, lives George Beck, a prosperous farmer. Mr. Beck is of German origin, and is about sixty-five years old. Some time ago he had an attack of palsy, but has recovered the use of his limbs. Mr. Beck tells an astonishing snake story. He says he was out in the woods several years ago, when he came on an enormous rattlesnake den, and commenced killing. He thinks he slaughtered about 600. He could not count them, but that was his estimate of the number slain. Some of the snakes were as large in diameter as Mr. Beck's leg, above the knee, and as he is a large man, his legs are not of pipe-stem dimensions. He also says, the snakes were about as plentiful when he got tired killing as they were when he began. He thinks that snake den included about twentyfive acres of ground. Mr. Beck has lived on the farm he now owns about twenty-eight years. The old log-house and log-barn have given place to large and substantial frame buildings, and everything around them shows industry and thrift."

The Methodist building at Whig Hill was dedicated February 19, 1880.... In December, 1882, the Free Methodist Church building was finished.... Eli Berlin was appointed postmaster at Whig Hill in October, 1885.

The Evangelical Church at Town Line was dedicated November 13, 1887. This is one mile from Whig Hill, on a two-acre lot donated by Jacob Beck, and near the old acre donation of 1854.

Braceville is a village eight miles east of East Hickory. In 1882-83 it began to share in the general revival of trade, and in January, 1884, the Century Equitable Aid Union was organized here with thirty-two members, the following named being the first officers: Chancellor, Henry Brace; advocate, Sidney Smith; president, Frank Helm, Jr.; vice president, S. S. Waley; auxiliary, Mrs. S. S. Waley; secretary, Frank Hunter; treasurer, L. G. Rounds; accountant, Amry Davis; chaplain, James Smith; warden, W. F. McHean; sentinel, G. W. Albaugh; watchman, W. E. Wetherell; conductor, Ira Barnes; assistant conductor, Mrs. W. C. McHean; examining physician, W. C. Coburn.

CHAPTER XV.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES-TIONESTA TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF TIONESTA-HICKORY AND HARMONY TOWNSHIPS.

TIONESTA TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF TIONESTA.

JOSHUA B. AGNEW was born in Clarion county, Penn., May 24, 1840. His father, John Agnew, came of that sturdy Scotch-Irish family of Agnews, well known in this State, and was born in Centre (now Blair) county, Penn., in the year 1800. His mother was born in Lancaster county, this State, and was a descendant of the early settlers of that section of the State, who came from Holland. The father of the subject of this sketch was well known to the early settlers of Northwestern Pennsylvania. When a young man he came to Clarion county, and engaged in various business enterprises of that day; was married in Clarion county, but nearly sixty years ago settled in Barnett township, Jefferson county, near the Clarion river, and with John Cook, William Armstrong, John Wynkoop, David Reynolds, Judge Barnett, Oran Butterfield, James Irwin, Sylvester Nolton, Judge Blood, W. R. Coon and others, was one of the early pioneers in the first settlement and development of that part of Forest county, which was then almost an unbroken wilderness. His family consisted of nine sons and three daughters, seven sons and one daughter of whom survive him. J. B. Agnew being the fourth son, and no doubt inheriting the enterprising spirit of his father, at the early age of fourteen years commenced to make his own way in the world, and to provide for himself and render such assistance to his parents as he could. He had commenced to lay the foundation of his education at the old Agnew school-house, erected through the efforts of his father about one mile from his home. There he improved such opportunities as he had up to the time of leaving home at the age of fourteen years, which, with several months of schooling afterward provided for by himself at public school, and his own perseverance and efforts of selfeducation, fitted him to commence the study of law in after years.

After first leaving home as a boy, he for a few months worked in a saw-mill,

after which, with a friend, he took contracts for taking out square timber, his first contracts being on the waters of Spring creek, Forest county, four miles from any habitation, where he spent his first winter, leaving home in a lumber camp with the men under his employ. After completing his first contract he went to school for a few months; then to work again at various jobs in the lumber business, running on the river, being a pilot on the Clarion when a boy, and following this life, in which he was always successful, until about the year 1858. He then purchased a team and wagon, and for some time was engaged in freighting and delivering goods that were then shipped by water to Waterson's ferry, the mouth of Redbank, Kittanning, and other points along the Allegheny, and from there wagoned to Clarington, Shippen's Mills, Coleman Mills, Cooksburg, and to various towns and lumbering establishments along the Clarion. He continued in this business up to the fall of 1860, when he commenced to read law, studying, however, only in the evenings, and at such times as he could spare from his work. In the fall of 1861 he was engaged in putting in timber rafts, staves, etc., for the Pittsburgh market, expecting with a small profit on the amount that he marketed in the spring of 1861, and with the frugal savings of other labor, to be able after his return from marketing to complete his education and law studies, and enter upon the practice of law. But in April, 1861, while at Liverpool, on the Ohio, Fort Sumter was fired on, and the war broke out. On hearing this news, he came up to Pittsburgh, arranged with his brother-in-law, J. R. Cook, to take charge and dispose of a small lot of staves, etc., that he still had there, and returned to his home, where, with Capt. V. Phipps, Philip Cook and others, he joined in the recruiting and organization of a company from Forest and Clarion counties, choosing Scotch Hill, Clarion county, as a place of drill and rendezvous. The company was soon organized and ready with about eighty members, but before its organization was complete the first call of the president for 75,000 troops was filled. About that time the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps was organized, when, by arrangement with Capt. Knox (late Colonel and Judge Knox), at Clarion, Penn., the company was mustered into the service as Company E, of the Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, with said J. B. Knox as its captain. In this company he served as a private for the first three years in the army, then, having re-enlisted, he was transferred to Company I, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, and in June, 1864, was, by special order of Gen. George G. Meade, detailed and placed in charge of the ordnance train of the Third Division of the Fifth Army Corps, in which capacity he acted as captain and a staff officer until the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, and the close of the war. He declined a commission as captain for the reason that it would necessitate the resignation of a wounded captain, who was a friend of his, to make the vacancy for him (not wanting his friend to be deprived of his captain's pay while he was disabled), and was mustered out as a private. His record as a soldier is an exceptionally brilliant one, and, as the record shows, he participated in some twenty-seven battles and engagements, and has received special mention in general orders for bravery in action. He was mustered out of the service in July, 1865, and after his return home, at the first Republican convention thereafter in Forest county, in the spring of 1866, was nominated for sheriff of said county, and almost unanimously elected in the following fall. Before his time as sheriff expired he was elected prothonotary, register, recorder and clerk of the several courts of Forest county, and before his first term as such had expired was reelected. Before his second term as such had expired he was elected a member of the legislature from Forest county, being the first member of the legislature

from the county under the constitution of 1873. He served in the legis lature of the State in the sessions of 1875 and 1876, was re-elected and served in the sessions of 1877 and 1878, winning a high reputation for probity and ability. During the time that he was occupying the positions of sheriff, prothonotary, etc., of said county, he, under the direction of Hon. George A. Jenks and W. E. Lathy, Esq., had completed his law studies, and immediately upon resigning the office of prothonotary, etc., in December, 1874, was admitted to the practice of law. After the expiration of his last term in the legislature, in 1879, he accepted a position tendered him by his friend, Hon. A. K. Dunkle (then secretary of internal affairs), in the office of the secretary of internal affairs of Pennsylvania, which position he filled for the term of four

years.

Having commenced the practice of law in 1874, he continued in the practice as much as his official duties would permit, and was also engaged in various enterprises, having large interests in lands and oil rights that, about the time that his term in the office of the secretary of internal affairs expired, became valuable, and he returned to his home, and from that time to the present has given his entire attention to his law practice and oil business. Mr. Agnew is a prominent oil producer, having had himself at one time a production of almost a thousand barrels of oil per day. As a lawyer he has been successful, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all who know him in that connection, having, aside from being admitted to the county courts, been for the last twelve years practicing before the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and the United States district courts. Much of the development of the resources of Forest county in a business way, and especially as to its development for oil, is due to Mr. Agnew, who is a leading politician, a popular official and a reliable business man, held in high esteem by his friends, generous to a fault, and an uncompromising Republican, who never conceals his political likes and dislikes, but is a faithful personal friend, one who never permits politics or difference of opinion to interfere with his friendships; and paramount among his virtues it may be said that he is an honest man.

His father and three brothers, John, Samuel and Leonard-five of the family in all-were soldiers during the Civil war. The four brothers, all still living, are members of the G. A. R., and are ardent Republicans. All rendered honorable service to their country, and adhere to the principles for which they fought. J. B. Agnew resides in Tionesta, where he has lived for the last twenty-two years in one of the finest and pleasantest homes in the county seat. In June, 1866, he married Miss Jennie E. McKay, then of Clarington, Forest Co., Penn., a daughter of the late James and Christine (Nolton) McKay, of Tionesta. Mrs. Agnew's father is of the McKay family of Waterford, Erie Co., Penn., and she is a granddaughter of Col. James McKay, an officer in the War of 1812. Her mother was the daughter of Sylvester Nolton, before mentioned as one of the early pioneers of Forest county, and who is prominently connected with its early history, having also been a soldier in the War of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Agnew have three children-one son and two daughters. Their son, Clarence McKay, now twenty-two years of age, was educated at Allegheny College. is now an attorney at law in his father's office, and is a promising and popular young man. The daughters, Misses Christine and Edna, are aged respectively six and three years.

L. AGNEW, proprietor of the Ludlow House, Warren, Penn., was born in Paint township, Clarion Co., Penn., June 12, 1843, and is a son of John and Ellen (Bailey) Agnew. He was reared in Jefferson county. Penn., and received a common-school education, in early life assisting his father in farming

and lumbering. He participated in the Civil war, enlisting from Barnett township, Jefferson Co., Penn., and was assigned to Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers; was in the battle of Chancellorsville, and was honorably discharged after nine months' service. After his return home, in 1863, he engaged in business as a lumberman and contractor in Barnett township, Jefferson Co., Penn., until 1867. He then moved to Tionesta, Forest county, where he followed the business of a contractor until 1873, when he embarked in the hotel business, in which he was engaged until 1884, in which year he was elected sheriff of Forest county for a term of three years. On the expiration of his term, he again engaged in the hotel business in Tionesta until April 1, 1889, and April 10, following, became proprietor of the Ludlow House, at Warren, where he is now located. Mr. Agnew has been twice married, his first wife being Sarah M., daughter of Oran Butterfield, of Barnett township, Jefferson Co., Penn., and by her he had three children: Jeanette, Mary L. and Oran C. (all deceased). Mr. Agnew's present wife, nee Sarah J., daughter of William Carson, of Indiana, Penn., has borne him four children: John L. (deceased), Willie C., Gertrude and Alice. Mr. Agnew is a member of the I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W., and G. A. R.; in politics he is a Republican.

CALVIN M. ARNER, prothonotary, register and recorder, Tionesta, was born in Armstrong county, Penn., October 3, 1847, and is a son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Wolf) Arner, who settled in Tionesta in 1856, where the father engaged in lumbering, and, with the exception of nine years, has always resided. In 1884, he (the father) was elected associate judge of Forest county, for a term of five years. He has seven children living: Hattie (Mrs. Lyman Cook), Emma E. (Mrs. Charles Whiteman), Mary (Mrs. Edward Chase), Sadie (Mrs. James Haggerty), Susanna C. (Mrs. Gilbert D. Ackerly), Calvin M. and Ida (Mrs. Andrew Small). Calvin M. Arner was reared in Pennsylvania, and educated in the common schools and at Kingsville Academy, Kingsville, Ohio. Mr. Arner has been a permanent resident of Tionesta since 1869, and was engaged in lumbering until 1883, when he was appointed postmaster by President Arthur, serving three years. He was elected to his present office in the fall of 1887, for a term of three years. In 1877 he married Mary, daughter of Henry and Katherine Eichenburg, of Tionesta, and they have five children: Lewis, Blanche, Alice, Kate and Emma.

J. WESLEY BALL, merchant, Tionesta, was born in Hickory township, Forest Co., Penn., July 20, 1852, and is a son of Nelson G. and Martha (Hunter) Ball. His paternal grandparents were Isaac and Sally (Munross) Ball, pioneers of what is now Harmony township, this county, and later of Balltown and East Hickory. His maternal grandparents were William and Sally (Range) Hunter, and his maternal great-grandfather, Poland Hunter, was a pioneer of Tionesta. J. Wesley Ball was reared and educated in his native township. He conducted a hotel in East Hickory for five years, also operating for a time his father's grist-mill at that place. He located in Tionesta in 1887, where he has since carried on a grocery business, and has a fine and growing trade. August 2, 1875, he married Rachel, daughter of C. C. Brenneman, of Clarion county, Penn., and they have three children: George, Elsie and Orchie. Mr. Ball is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the P. O. S. of A.; in politics he is a Republican.

PETER C. BLOCHER, farmer and oil producer, Tionesta, was born in Clarence, Erie Co., N. Y., February 1, 1834, a son of Christian and Catherine (Behm) Blocher. His paternal grandfather was John Blocher, whose parents came from Switzerland, and were pioneers of Lancaster county, Penn. Peter C. Blocher was reared in his native county, and educated

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